


self-quarantine

by tellmewhatyousee



Series: Writer's Month 2020 [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon Universe, Gen, Sickfic, Writer's Month 2020, more or less
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:26:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25621327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tellmewhatyousee/pseuds/tellmewhatyousee
Summary: “Hey, has anyone seen the Captain since we submerged?”Writer's Month Prompt #2: quarantine.
Series: Writer's Month 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894669
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54
Collections: Writer's Month 2020





	self-quarantine

Dinner time on the Polar Tang was always a rowdy affair, as it was one of the few times the crew gathered all at once. They took the opportunity to kick back and goof off after a long day, now with the ship submerged and free of most threats.

“Hey, has anyone seen the Captain since we submerged?”

The galley went dead quiet. The rest of the Heart pirates exchanged worried glances. _Oh._

“Really? No one?” Bepo asked, standing up from his chair. Sure, their captain didn’t _always_ join them for meals, but that information was more than a little concerning. “He did _come back_ with us, right?”

“‘Course he did!” Penguin chimed in. “I came back behind him. He said he had some work to do, or somethin’, and then walked to the lower levels.” He looked to Shachi, who was sitting by his side. “You remember that, right?”

“Yeah, he’s right,” Shachi confirmed. “But, seriously, no one else has seen him since then? It’s been, like, twelve hours.”

More glances between the crew. As the seconds ticked by, anxious murmuring steadily filled the room.

Bepo was the first to speak clearly. “Well, uh, maybe we should go see—”

The ringing of a transponder snail cut him off, and all eyes went to the end of the table where it sat. Shachi, who was closest to it, picked it up before anyone else could. “Hello?”

“Shachi.”

Ah, he knew that deadpan voice anywhere. “Captain? Why are ya callin’ from…” He trailed off, his eyes widened, and his face went pale. “You’re… you’re _on the ship,_ right?” 

Law sighed. “Yes, of _course_ I’m on the—” A coughing fit interrupted him, and Shachi flinched. The murmuring from the crew started up again, and he put a hand up to silence them. “I’m… in the medbay,” Law continued. “Where is the rest of the crew?”

“We’re all here, Captain!” Penguin replied, and Shachi nudged him with his elbow.

“Yeah, boss, you’re late for dinner,” Shachi said. “Why didn’t you just come up here and talk?”

“Because I’m sick,” Law replied, and the hoarseness of his voice suddenly became very apparent. “I think I caught something from that last island, and I need to know if anyone else is showing symptoms.”

“Symptoms?” Shachi echoed, his eyes searching the table for any sign of illness in the rest of the crew. Everyone looked more concerned than anything else. “What kinda symptoms?”

“Ah… fever, sore throat, body aches, congestion, c—” Another brief coughing fit cut him off. “Just… if anyone is _ill,_ could you please let me know as soon as possible?”

“Yeah, okay,” Shachi said, and lowered the receiver before he addressed the rest of the table. “Anyone feelin’ sick?”

The crew looked at each other, some reaching out to feel each other’s foreheads. After a minute, a few shrugs and thumbs up gave Shachi all the information he needed.

“Nah, everyone seems fine,” he reported back to Law. “But what do you mean, it was something on the island? How do you know?”

“I don’t get _sick,_ Shachi,” Law replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m assuming it was something we haven’t encountered before. I’ve been running tests to see if I can find anything unusual, but I haven’t had any luck yet. And I plan to stay in quarantine until I figure out what’s causing this.”

Shachi furrowed his brow. He looked back at his crewmates, who showed similar expressions that meant they were probably thinking the same thing. “What did you say your symptoms are, Captain?”

Law sighed. “Fever, sore throat, congestion, body aches, sneezing, fatigue—”

“That kinda just sounds like a cold.”

Silence.

“Law, do you have a cold?”

The transponder snail clicked off. Shachi sighed. The crew was staring back at him, some in shock that he’d spoken to their captain that way, and some more amused than anything else.

“We should… check on him, right?” Penguin asked after a moment.

Shachi shrugged. “Sure, after dinner,” he said. “I’m not in a hurry.”


End file.
